Marton's Te Āhuru Mōwai Playground gets an 'excellence' at NZ Institute of Landscape Architecture Awards

Percy Glynn gives the playground a whirl on its opening day last year. Photo / Lewis Gardner

Marton's Te Āhuru Mōwai Playground project has been recognised on the national stage.

It received an excellence prize in the 'Education and Play' category at the New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architecture Awards.

Rangitikei mayor Andy Watson, Rangitīkei District Council chief executive Peter Beggs, and the Marton Development Group head Lucy Skou made the trip to the awards ceremony in Auckland this week.

Also in the category were the Parliamentary Play Space (Wellington), Te Raekura Redcliffs School (Christchurch), and Warrior Mountains' Playground - Te Papa Tākaro o Ngā Maunga Toa (Taupō).

The award was presented to the playground's designers - environmental planning and design consultancy firm Boffa Miskell.

Skou said simply getting shortlisted as a finalist was "an amazing achievement in itself".

"It's a lovely feeling for everyone involved in the project because so much hard work was put in.

"Everyone working together achieved the playground. It still seems to be popular and it's getting a lot of use."

Its full name, Te Āhuru Mōwai o Tutaeporoporo (the safe haven of Tutaeporoporo), was given by local mana whenua Ngā Wairiki and Ngāti Apa.

Te Āhuru Mōwai o Tutaeporoporo will form part of a Marton-wide play trail. Photo / Bevan Conley

The final cost of the playground was $1.3 million, with some funds coming from JBS Dudding Trust, Whanganui Community Foundation and Four Regions Trust.

Skou and her team also held multiple fundraising efforts, and it officially opened in April last year.

The Marton Development Group had other plans in the pipeline, with the first being the Tutaeporoporo Action Trail, Skou said.

Boffa Miskell will again be a part of that process.

"The trail connects the playground to other play spaces throughout the town, and we will put in murals and things like that."

Improving the Marton Velodrome was also on the group's to-do list.

"To begin with, we want to reseal it and maybe have a 'safe wheels' space down there," Skou said.

"We are also starting the process of getting an eight-metre Christmas tree in Marton for next year."